Chapter Sixty-Four – The Next Bunch

“What’s the next one?” I asked.

“Gimme a sec,” Sharp said. “You know, I can only write so fast. This one’s got a long explanation too.”

Narrative Authority

If you demand an explanation, the universe itself starts talking. A villain who would never monologue finds themselves unable to stop. The more you understand, the more likely you are to win.

Hmm… I had to think on this one. A perk that seemed to maybe play with probability? The last line was the one that stood out to me. The ability to make a foe monologue was neat, and in the right moment it could be strong, but most targets had guards and companions, and ‘villain’ felt rather like a restrictive hole to put someone in.

Oh, there were plenty of CEOs, politicians, cult leaders and depraved killers that fit the bill, but they were probably one in ten thousand. Most of the people we’d be fighting were more ordinary.

It was extremely uncommon for me to have a job taking out a ‘villainous’ CEO. It was far more likely that I was hired to plug a leak, or take out a whistleblower, and they rarely stood out as villains to me.

The last line, ‘The more you understand, the more likely you are to win,’ that struck me as very powerful. I didn’t like going into a situation blind, and this perk sounded like it would reward research and time spent scoping a place and target out.

“Star?” I asked.

“Yeah, it does sound pretty decent,” Sharp said. “We have a lot with stars though, and this one…”

Power Through Love and Rage

If you love someone, they cannot slip from you, and if you hate someone, then you will not suffer them to live. The universe acknowledges that those you love may not die just as those you hate cannot be suffered to live.

“Oh.”

I wanted this.

I wanted that perk so bad.

A form of immortality, or at least a powerful protection, applied uniquely to those I loved? I would never have to bury a kitty again. The hate part didn’t matter, it was the love that did.

“Yeah,” Sharp said as she added a star next to it.

One Liner Execution

When you say something cool before an attack, it always lands. If you say something cool after, it kills. If you’re not looking at an explosion, then it cannot hurt you, because that wouldn’t be cool.

Very strong, but entirely unusable for Sharp. “Skip,” I said.

“But… it sounds kind of good, no?”

“How many levels in Cool do you have?” I asked.

Sharp pouted, and started writing the next one. Yeah, I figured as much.

Quiet Main Character Energy

If you keep to yourself, mind your own, say nothing, and act according to your own thoughts, then the people around you will gravitate your way, knowing that even in silence, you are competent.

I sighed. “You’re too loud for this one, Sharp.”

“I can be quiet,” Sharp muttered, but she notably didn’t add a star to this one either.

Retcon Immunity

When retcons occur, you will find yourself a step to the left of reality, displaced for the moment it takes for things to snap back into place, and then, once more, you will be back.

“When retcons occur?” I asked. This thing made it sound like it was a regular occurrence. Was there a retcon every week or something and no one knew about it? What were the implications of that? I… did not like that, not one bit.

Unfortunately, the power didn’t seem overly strong on the face of it. Or maybe it was the strongest here and I just didn’t have a way of knowing. If retcons were a thing, did we want the attention of those causing them?

Probably a safe one to skip.

Training Montage Master

As long as you participate in a long session of focused training, you will feel time slip through your grasp, but knowledge will do the opposite. You come out of training sessions far ahead of where you started, feeling refreshed and ready to put new skills to work!

“I like this one,” Sharp said.

“It’s a shortcut. Powerful, certainly, but a shortcut nonetheless. You’ll get the same benefits from putting in the elbow grease.”

“But it’ll take a lot longer,” Sharp said.

“And you’re pressed for time?” I asked. “Do you have something next week? Planning on taking over the world in a month? If there’s anything we have in abundance right now, Sharp, it’s time. Don’t rush. Not when some of the other options we have are so much better.”

I didn’t tell her, but I also feared that if Sharp thought she was suddenly competent, she might put herself into situations where that competence needed to be tested.

Unskippable

Like a cutscene with no skips, when you start talking, everyone else has to listen.

“Eh,” Sharp said.

“Eh,” I agreed.

“This is the last one,” Sharp said as she started to write. “I might want this one later, but I think I’ll skip it for now. It’s cool, though!”

Voice of an Actor

Your voice and way of speaking is entirely within your control. You can speak, scream, shout and sing like the loudest rocker on a world stage or the softest mother whispering sweet nothings to a babe.

Sharp was spot-on with this one. It did seem like a neat perk to have. I could think of a few scenarios where perfect vocal mimicry could come in handy, and if Sharp left the assassination business, she could sing in dive bars or something. It wasn’t immediately useful, however.

“Okay… lining up the ones with stars,” Sharp said. She listed all of the perks that we’d added stars to.

☆Cheat Code Reflexes

☆Deus Ex Machina

☆Final Episode Privilege

☆Mid-Season Power-Up

☆Narrative Authority

☆Power Through Love and Rage

☆Limit Breaker

“Tough choices,” I muttered. “But I think some can be removed from the list fairly easily.”

“Okay,” Sharp said. “Which ones though? I’m thinking the two that are kinda similar?”

“Final Episode Privilege and Mid-Season Power-Up are relatively similar, and both require that you be actively in a… situation. Something narrative. That means they might never trigger at all, or only during a mission that’s gone sideways, which is a good time for a perk, but it also means that we failed to go in prepared in the first place.”

“Yeah,” Sharp said. She crossed both out. “Mid-season sounds cool, but the power you get from that isn’t specified. What if it’s really bad?”

☆Cheat Code Reflexes

☆Deus Ex Machina

☆Final Episode Privilege

☆Mid-Season Power-Up

☆Narrative Authority

☆Power Through Love and Rage

☆Limit Breaker

“Okay… next… Cheat Code? It sounds awesome, but you need to be monologuing. I don’t wanna do that.”

“And someone needs to be actively attacking you, which may well happen one day, but only if we’ve failed elsewhere.”

Sharp nodded. “And it’s not like I can use it to be cool in like, training or whatever. Why would I monologue then?”

Another strikethrough.

☆Cheat Code Reflexes

☆Deus Ex Machina

☆Final Episode Privilege

☆Mid-Season Power-Up

☆Narrative Authority

☆Power Through Love and Rage

☆Limit Breaker

“Down to four,” I said.

“Deus Ex is like the two we crossed out, but kind of better in a way,” Sharp said. “It’s a get-out-of-jail free card.”

“I agree. Narrative Authority is also good. It says win. Winning can mean succeeding in a mission. The more we know, the better our odds. Which is already true, this just makes it moreso.”

“That is really strong,” Sharp said. She chewed on the back of her… my pen, and then nodded. “What about the love power? The power of love and friendship is OP, right?”

“I suppose with that perk it would be,” I said. “Personally… That’s the one I would take for myself. But that feels like a selfish choice.”

“It’s selfish to want those you love to live?” Sharp asked.

“In a way, it might be.”

Sharp stared off into space for a long time, then nodded. “I’m taking that one.”

“Really?” I asked. I was genuinely surprised.

“Yup! When I get a girlfriend one day, I don’t want her to die because of me, you know?”

I sighed. “Take Narrative Authority, you dolt. And we haven’t talking about Limit Breaker yet, which sounds like a good tool to have once we’re reaching the upper limits of a skill. You should take one or the other. But I prefer Narrative Authority.”

“What? Why?”

“Because the chances of us getting stuck in a losing mission is an order of magnitude more likely than you talking to a woman without shoving your own foot in your mouth.”

“Hey!” Sharp whined. “I’m… I’m not that bad.”

“Maybe Narrative Authority also applies to conquests of love. But if you start flirting with someone, don’t go and bring them here.”

Sharp pouted, but I saw her gesture in the air, then nodded. “It’s done! I’m now stronger! As long as I know something about the thing I’m doing!”

“So, nothing’s really changed yet except the urgency needed to get you to hit the books.”

***

A note from RavensDagger

:3

Got a cover for the TTRPG!~

Gonna do a Kickstarter for it… probably next month? And then if that works out, I might consider doing more TTRPGs. I think the world of Cinnamon Bun could use one, and Dead Tired as well? Ivil Antagonist… hmm, there’s a power system in place that could be gamed, but how do you turn Flirting and Useless Lesbianism into skills? Kittypunk could be a cool TTRPG as well, I guess!

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